Haven't been at my computer much over the last 8-10 days. During that time, I transitioned from an ordinary cold to a nasty virus (not the flu). And, just to make it all interesting, my AFib (irregular heartbeat) returned (for the 5th time).

I'm done with heart meds and cardioversions, so I am having a catheter abaltion sometime in mid-late March.

In any event, I'm back in the saddle - making more progress on the Adirondack snapshot project - with camera and iPhone in hand.

I have selected 278 pictures from my picture library. That number will be further reduced to 264 - 8 books with 33 pictures each, accompanied by 5"x5" prints of all 278 pictures.

With such a large quantity of pictures, it only makes sense to display them in a gallery or a gallery like setting. And, quite frankly, the strength of the work is primarily dependent upon on the very broad scope - in pictures and in time - of the pictures. I reallt believe that walking into a gallery space and seeing all 278 prints+8books at once really drives home the magnitude of the project.

That written, I see an exhibit in which the prints are displayed on photo ropes which run continuously along the walls of a gallery. That presentation could be either a run of 1 set of photo ropes or 2 sets, one above the other. The books would be present on book pedestals along the walls.

At home, I can easily display 1 book and the accompanying prints on the walls of my mini in-home gallery space. With the ease of the photo rope's magnetic mounting, the groups could be dispalyed on a rotating basis.

I'm wallowing / caught in a mid-winter picture making doldrum. An endless succession of overcast days combined with an increasingly typical weather cycle of snow, then rain, then ice make for less than aesthetically inspiring picture making conditions.

So, I'm spending time catching up on some picture printing and continuing work on creating pictures for my Adirondack Snapshot Project). That work requires sorting through thousands of my pictures of Adirondack scenes / events / people / places / et al in order to identify somewhere between 200-300 pictures which will then be converted to my the new snapshot format / presentation style. The work is both enjoyable and tedious.

On The Online Photograher, Mike Johnston has recently started a fairly regular (2x a month?) feature called Baker's Dozen wherein he asks for picture submissions based upon a specific theme. As the name suggests, Johnston picks 13 pictures from those submitted for presentation on TOP.

Early this week Johnston aksed for the submission of color pictures which, in their making, demanded that they be made in color. I am considering a submission.

That written, I must write, in all honestly, that all of my pictures "demand" to be made in color simply because I am trying my best to picture and represent the world as it is and not as, in my words, a BW abstract picture of the world.

That written, iMo and conventionally writing, the only pictures that demand to be made in color are those which are about color. Or, those in which the color is an important element in the picture maker's visual intent (that would be me).

In my picture making, I have made many pictures about color which are strictly about color.. The most recent example is presented in this entry. Without question, my eye and sensibilities were pricked by the colors in the pictured-as-found scene. And, while many may be quick to point out that the picture is about fruits and flowers, to my eye and sensibilities, those items are just the visual referents which are used to illustrate the "real" referent of color.

FYI, the our new Mercedes picture is presented seemingly as a contrast to the tabletop color picture inasmuch as most would condsider that that picture does not demand the use of color and it would have worked just fine in BW. However, (once again) to my eye and sensibilitires, the 5 isolated spots of red and orange add a nice degree of visual energy which helps get the eye moving around the 2D field / surface of the picture.

Inasmuch as the our new Mercedes picture was meant a "just" a snapshot of our new car, presenting the picture in BW would have worked well enough. However, if we had purchased the red Mercedes .....